Going back to America in 3 months
3 Things I can't wait for:
- Delivery
- Barbeques
- Drinking from the tap. And taking showers with my mouth open.
3 Things I don't want to leave:
- Eating on the floor
- My sisters and brothers in Takeo and Prey Veng
- The way Khmer people WANT to sit and listen to me play music and sing
More stuff:
I just came back from a vacation in Korea, which was amazing in every way. When it was all over, it was really really hard to leave and come back to Cambodia. I got back to the capital city and spent 2 days moping in a hotel bed, surrounded by candy wrappers and dirty laundry. You could say I was having a very late-in-the-game rejection of Cambodia. But I knew just the thing that would help me snap out of it.
I came over to Takeo province to visit my training host family for the Khmer New Year. As soon as I arrived, my host mom gave me a big hug (she's gotten so much better at the whole hugging thing). And then I just spent time with my family.
My first full day there is really what pulled me out of my funk. In the morning we all piled in the car and went to the pagoda. My older sister and I showed our faces inside, and then decided to chill out outside in the shade until the ceremony is over. I surprised myself by pouring out my heart to her about my feelings recently, and just like any good sister, she gave great advice. I just feel so lucky to be close enough to some people here that they really feel like family. After the ceremony, we were invited to yey's (grandma's) house for lunch. I sat there with about 30 khmer people, eating a traditional feast, and I thought to myself how few "travelers" get to experience anything like this. And here I am, not just watching from the outside, but participating with people who accept me as one of them. We came home after lunch, and I spent the hottest part of the day napping in my favorite hammock outside in the shade. After my nap I borrowed my brother's bike and went over to my friend Siphen's house. We chatted and munched on fruit for a few hours. I made my way back home, and watched a movie with my two youngest siblings. Then, my family invited a monk to our house to bless the family in the new year. So a monk and 2 priests came, and I sat with my whole family to receive the blessing. I listened to the chanting, and giggled as the family dog kept coming and going like he wanted to be blessed also. The monk was splashing scented water on us during his blessing. My youngest brother Lini set himself up right in front of the monk, so within a minute, he was soaked. In the middle of the blessing, he took his shirt off and tossed it aside. We all laughed. I'm just glad he kept his pants on. Then, as it was growing dark, we decided to walk through the rice fields to a relative's house across the way. There, the children were playing traditional games, the women were cooking snacks, and the men were chilling out drinking beer. As usual, I was steered over to the drinking men, where I shared a beer with my father. Then, somehow I ended up with a guitar in my hands, and I played for the party for about an hour before we decided to head home. I ate rice with my family, and finally went to bed exhausted.
It's days like this that I remember how cool my life is right now, and how it won't always be this way, so LIVE it.
A spider and her eggs on my mosquito net.
harvested rice
The rice fields
This path is my favorite place to go for a walk/run.
Just about ready to be harvested
The brick factory down the street
Trash. This is what the sides of the roads look like in Prey Veng.
This cow kept trying to get to the other side of the building THROUGH the library. There's no door on the other side. I kept having to shoo it out.
Or maybe she just wanted to read some books.